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Masters Of Metal - From Worlds Beyond

Masters of Metal - Agents of Steel - Masters of Metal - Agents of Steel, MASTERS OF METAL or AGENT STEEL? Does it really matter? It is AGENT STEEL minus a lead vocalist and we’re basically talking about the same thing when it comes to musical style. Ok, MASTERS OF METAL is perhaps a bit rougher and unpolished than the latest AGENT STEEL. In one way, I can understand the name change in order to have the freedom to do whatever and avoid being compared to AGENT STEEL. But is it really possible to listen to MASTERS OF METAL and not refer to AGENT STEEL? And then, would it really be necessary to anything but AGENT STEEL?

From a quality perspective, all songs released as MASTERS OF METAL could easily fit on any AGENT STEEL record; there’s amazing riffing and the technicality is about the same. And the album opener “Supremacy” is a real speedy killer; I love the choirs in the chorus where “Supremacy” is barfed out over it. Another heavy grinder is “World Left In Chaos” with the dark and heavy riff that I really like. There’s one vocal passage just before the bridge that sounds very much like AGENT STEEL and their trademark style or like the Bruce Hall era in the way notes are stretched in the vocals and how the choirs are arranged.

“Third Eye” is perhaps a bit outside of the standards; the heavy mid-section where both the pace and heaviness are brought down a few notches. The whole sound is a bit too down-tuned with a very dark chewy riff as the foundation - at least, for my taste. Still, the song is very cool. I really enjoy the vocal arrangement in the chorus line in “Eclipse”; the dark grunting followed by a very clean and rather high-pitched response. Also, the solo here is fantastic being melodic but still a bit aggressive. One of my favorite songs here is “The Mindless”; I like the mix of a rather bumpy rhythm in the music while the vocal melody is very catchy. Also, I like a good melody over a speedy passage. Another track that stands out is “M.K. Ultra” with a structure that is more towards to NEVERMORE than AGENT STEEL; a rather fast but yet groovy, chewy and very heavy riff in the background and a much slower vocal line over it. “Into The Vortex” is another catchy one and I easily can see myself screaming and/or headbanging along at a bar or during a concert.

But yes, there are elements on the “From Worlds Beyond” album that deviate from the AGENT STEEL blueprint but it is still solid US Heavy Metal on the verge of Thrash. And it’s really not fair to comment this, but again with reference to AGENT STEEL. Bernie Versailles is not as strong a vocalist as the people he’s been working with in AGENT STEEL. John Cyriis is very special as a person and as a singer. Also, I really love the Bruce Hall albums and his vocal capabilities are absolutely fantastic. Bernie beats most vocalists from any new band in the same style sand he really sounds fantastic. It’s just that the competition he’s up against which is extreme.

But while waiting for the next AGENT STEEL album, this is perfect. MASTERS OF METAL seem to have fun and the album is a killer. The name of the band doesn’t really matter after all.